Zakhar Saulovich Katsnelson: the true knight of Science

Abstract

The article is devoted to an outstanding histologist, an outstanding teacher, a man of exceptional integrity and integrity - Zakhar Saulovich Katsnelson. The authors of this article were interested in him primarily because he is their countryman, a native of the small Ural city of Irbit. Zakhar Saulovich also received his education in the Urals. He entered the medical faculty of the Ural State University in Yekaterinburg, graduated from the Medical faculty of Perm State University. Then Zakhar Saulovich worked for 3 years in Moscow. Yekaterinburg (Sverdlovsk from 1924 to 1991), and in 1929 he was elected by competition to the advanced postgraduate (doctoral) program He moved to Leningrad, where he lived and worked until the end of his days. Zakhar Saulovich worked as the head of the Department of General Biology at the I Leningrad Medical Institute, then as the head of the Department of General Biology at the Naval Medical Academy. In 1948, he was elected by competition as the head of the Department of Cytology, Embryology and Histology of the Leningrad Veterinary Institute, where he worked until his retirement in September 1976. Z.S. Katsnelson's scientific research covered a wide range of issues of important theoretical and practical importance. In agricultural artiodactyls, he studied the embryogenesis of the adrenal gland, in particular, its fetal cortex, revealed the unfounded theory of capsular blastema, and proved the presence of cellular dimorphism in the medulla. Being a true knight of science and a very principled man, Zakhar Saulovich actively participated in the fight against the pseudoscientific views of T.D. Lysenko and O.B. Lepeshinskaya, which were planted in the first post-war years. He became one of the authors of the famous "Letter of the Thirteen", which debunked O.B. Lepeshinskaya's theory about the formation of cells from non-cellular matter. Professor Z.S. Katsnelson was a talented teacher, a brilliant lecturer, he showed a deep interest in the history of morphology and teaching methodology. The article dedicated to the memory of Professor Z.S. Katsnelson examines the main stages of his life and work, the main scientific achievements, professional and personal qualities.